I broke my right ankle a couple of years ago, and once I could move without vomiting, I drove myself to my doctor's office. Yes, I know it was stupid. Does it help that it was less than 1 mile away and I had my flashers on?

I think your office staff may be on to something about you being a weirdo magnet as it seems to have extended itself into blog world..... I really like your blog... and I'm not really seeing the problem here with the guy getting himself to the best care. His spirit and can do attitude says a lot.

I once crawled down a mountain and into my pick-up and drove myself to the hospital, and no, I didn't go to the nearest hospital. I had a serious problem but did want to live to see the sunrise.

The hardest part was getting up into that big Chevy, luckily, I had some really nice chrome running boards which helped.

Just when you think we've really hit rock bottom in the "lack of reasoning skills" department someone comes along to bring it to an even deeper level.

A good family friend of mine drove himself to the ER while he was having an M.I. At a red light a prostitute jumped on the hood of his car and starting grinding herself against the windshield. When his wipers didn't do the trick he just drove on until at the next light she rolled off and accosted another driver.

Your example blows that story out of the water though...wow. You really do attract the 'special' ones. ;)

Oh, come on --- your choices were far too easy --- make our guessing more challenging! Like maybe the guy had his two trained parrots operate the gas and brakes. Or he drove upside down with his hands on the pedals and peered out through his ass, since obviously that's where his head is.

As I read this story to my fiance, he pointed out that the hospital we work for would crap their pants to have a story like that to work with... Granted they couldn't advertise it. But- "Paraplegics drive with broomsticks to get to our hospital because it's so awesome!" would be the marketing department's wet dream.

I'm kind of surprised at how harsh some of these comments are. I understand how the story can be told and heard in an amusing way (and I hope that the gentleman in question is someday well enough to laugh at it himself).

But, you guys have had fortunate lives indeed if you have never experienced how severe pain and terror can reduce your ability to act rationally. I can hardly imagine the panic of suddenly being paralyzed from the waist down. Some people are remarkably calm when in extreme pain and disability, but most are not. You may feel sure you are among the few who would act in a sane fashion under duress, but why mock those who aren't so lucky?

I'm not condoning the very dangerous (to himself and others) thing this guy did, but I can understand it.

Most of my family lives in a smaller midwestern city where there isn't a lot of trust for the local hospital. One part of this is because the Dominant Regional Health Care System has in the past made efforts to block access to surgical specialists in nearby larger cities. I imagine that if presented with a neurosurgical emergency the local hospital would stabilize the patient and ship him up to a city with a neurosurgeon ASAP, but I can easily see a patient being *very* nervous about the corporate masters somehow blocking this.

I have no trouble believing the story. While personally I wish the man would have called for help - even a family member or friend, if not 911 - rather than use such a, well, chancy method to drive himself, I can understand his point of view.

I drove myself to the hospital after fracturing my left hip. I have an automatic transmission, I stayed on surface streets, and the ER is only 10 min from my house (I also didn't realize I'd broken the damn thing). However, when I broke my right ankle, I wasn't about to try to drive, even with my left foot, apart from the fact that I was dizzy and vomiting from the pain. (I didn't call 911, as to me this wasn't a true emergency - I called my partner to come get me.)

But OMFG - doing a Mr Bean on the freeway at 75MPH? Even if he was determined to be a tough guy, what about all the other people he put at risk? Especially as he apparently had some kind of neuro problem, which could have affected his vision, reaction time, etc.

Grumpy, I must say I both sympathize, and deeply appreciate, your being such an asshole magnet. I know it makes your life tough, but what a boon for the rest of us!

It's best to just ignore them. Your faithful readers knew exactly what you meant (yes, we knew you typo'd grabbed into grapped and we still understood what you were saying... 'tain't no thang).

Hmmmm...does the period go on the inside or the outside of the parenthesis? Hold on just a minute while I grab my copy of Strunk & White...on second thought, fuck it!

And for God's sake, please, Please, PLEASE do not apologize to little miss english comp teacher if your fingers should get crossed on the keyboard...like I said before, we know damn well what you are saying, and we, the faithful, don't care if you have the occasional typo(s), as they detract not one iota from your stories.

Welcome to my whining!

This blog is entirely for entertainment purposes. All posts about patients may be fictional, or be my experience, or were submitted by a reader, or any combination of the above. Factual statements may or may not be accurate.

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